cl 500 2001 Running costs (MPG) LPG??????

[mouldb]

Hi all,

Been a while since my last post as I
Sold my S320 CDI over a year ago & am now looking for a bit of fun!!!

CL 500.... Tax is still at £210 & only the MPG putting me off! Any one out there got some info for me please.

Thanks in advance,


Bruce.:-|

 

[television]

I run the SL500, same weight as the CL you can get up to 29.9 and that was my best ever, it does not make any difference driving fast or slow as they are only showing 2100 rpm at 70 mph

For most journeys of say 10 miles it does 21 ish and 30 miles journeys of 26mpg,

Must add that where I live is all hills

 

[mouldb]

Thanks Malcolm!

Do you have any experience with LPG or does anyone else on the site use Liquid petroleum gas?
Is the engine in this model a good one for a conversion or not?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[television]

I had a miss type and the best figures were 29.9 mpg


In all fairness to where I live, my V70R did and average of 25.7 in Herts, and only 21.5 down here, as I have 3 miles of uphills to get out from my town

 

[st4]

Thanks Malcolm!

Do you have any experience with LPG or does anyone else on the site use Liquid petroleum gas?
Is the engine in this model a good one for a conversion or not?

Thanks,

Bruce

Nah, a decent coversion is over £1500. Thats a lot of petrol. Plus they put an additional ugly filler cap on the side. Better spending the money on a better example of the car, or petrol/maintenence.

A 215 is essentially an S class (inside and out). Would the 4dr car not appeal more or an SL500/SL350 which have the bonus of roof down motoring and sportier interiors.

An E55 AMG may also suit the bill for you. But if you ask the MPG question it may not be the car for you

 

[mouldb]

I Had an S320 CDI, but have always liked the CL. I need 4 seats or at least the option of 4 as I have 2 young children 7 & 9 years old, so the back will not be too cramped!

Bruce.

 

[st4]

I Had an S320 CDI, but have always liked the CL. I need 4 seats or at least the option of 4 as I have 2 young children 7 & 9 years old, so the back will not be too cramped!

Bruce.

Cool. A 215 is an expensive maintence proposition. A CLK500 for the same money will be newer, and faster and give the pillarless coupe experience.

If its a 215, I wouldn't bother gassing it. High teens to mid 20's MPG is within its reach and late 20's (early 30's if it has cylinder shut down ZAS) on a run. Not so expensive to fuel really and a comfy big car.

 

[psmart]

Depends how you drive, but I have a ML500 and Im averaging in the 24's.

I was going to convert to LPG and created a very detailed analysis in Excel and enquired on numerous technologies and with the mpg I was getting, it would take 6 years at my mileage (10K) to re-coup the money and also run the risk of of harder servicing.

If I was a hard driver and obtained sub 20mpg, then converting to LPG was worth it. Proper LPG conversions hide the LPG fill up in the fuel cap bay, the crap UK bayonet effigies bore into the body work and look horrendous.

They are economical engines, all depends on how you drive. Hard driver, go for LPG, average driver, the cheaper cost of buying the 500 more than covers any future fuel expenditure.

 

[mouldb]

Do some of the CL,s come with cylinder shut down as standard or can you have this added after & if so how much is involved?

Ta,

Bruce

 

[st4]

Do some of the CL,s come with cylinder shut down as standard or can you have this added after & if so how much is involved?

Ta,

Bruce

Not standard, its a relatively rare option alas but worth looking out for.

I believe the non turbo'd V12 engines have it. I didn't know it existed on the V8 cars but someone on the other forum has an S500L and reckons his is about 15% more economical with ZAS and gets low 30's MPG from his on a run.

Can't imagine it can be retrofitted but anything is possible but the cost of doing so will be prohibative. The 500 isn't too bad on fuel really and if you want one then go for it.

 

[mouldb]

You should be a salesman... you could sell cars even during this credit crunch!!

Thanks,

Bruce

 

[st4]

You should be a salesman... you could sell cars even during this credit crunch!!

Thanks,

Bruce

It would be a fun job , rather than being a collections officer in a bank.

 

[MBDevotee]

My last 4 cars have ALL been LPG - so I may be able to comment on it.....

Basically you will get your money back with the LPG but it's a question of when....

See here for a calculator as to how long that will take :- http://www.lpgconversionsltd.co.uk/calc.html

Only you can decide if it's worth it, but I do 20k per annum and my recently replaced car does 31mpg on Petrol 28mpg on LPG - it cost me £1600 to convert and I have saved around £3000 on fuel so an overall saving of £1500 in 3 1/2 years. The car runs much smoother and quieter on LPG, but you lose some MPG. If the setup is a good one you won't lose any noticable power but a poor conversion you will.

Key is getting a good conversion done in the first place - I would personally reccommend a Prins VSI system, the dearest but the best in my experience. Also go to a good fitter - you can ask on here:- http://my90.co.uk/lpg/viewforum.php?f=27&sid=d0cb884972698b5d94e365976d44d10e it's an LPG forum you may need to subscribe.

I have had several systems and I have to say the quality does vary, and paying more doesn't mean you get a better product always.

SO many people say to me - get a diesel - but the figures still work well in LPG's favour - I looked at Diesel CLK's but the difference in purchase price means I am far better off buying a petrol CLK and converting it, which is what I am in the process of doing.

The nice thing with LPG is once the conversion is done you just relax and drive the car without worrying about the cost of the fuel, whereas on petrol I am constantly trying to get the max MPG out of it to ease the pain.

I cannot speak highly enought of LPG and wouldn't run a car on anything else, just make sure the conversion is a good one.

(And a good fitter can hide the filler almost anywhere, I have mine in the bottom of the plastic bumper - never in the side of the car) - colour coded you can barely see it.

 

[hairyg]

I've also been running on LPG for quite a while now. In my case I run an R129 SL320 (straight 6) on LPG and get between 25 and 28 mpg. The conversion to the Priz VSI system cost me £2000 but I have done 40000 miles since then so have well and truly got my money back.

A previous car (C200) had the Landi conversion and was not as good with very poor control at small throttle openings.

You do have to do a lot of miles before LPG makes financial sense but I like the idea that my SL320 costs the same per mile as my wife's Audi A3 1.9 TDi for fuel.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

I've also been running on LPG for quite a while now. In my case I run an R129 SL320 (straight 6) on LPG and get between 25 and 28 mpg. I like the idea that my SL320 costs the same per mile as my wife's Audi A3 1.9 TDi for fuel.

25 to 28 mpg can not be far short of "as good as it gets" for an R129 320? You can not have lost many mpg, if any by switching to LPG. Makes the sums all the more reassuring.

 

[MBDevotee]

I knew someone who had an E320 (prev shape not sure what W number that is) - they got 30 on petrol and 28 on lpg.

I think the Merc engines are VERY good at using the higher octane of LPG to offset the lower calorific value. I have heard that some can get almost identical mpg's - once my CLK320 is converted I intend to use Super Unleaded only as well as the LPG so the Octanes are not too dissimilar.

 

[L-pretlove]

ive got an ml500 and if i drive easy i can get low to mid 30's out of her but around town that does come down to mid 20's and if im heavy with the gas then we are talking about 15 mpg

 

[swallen]

Me too!

I've been looking at the same - or even a 600/600 bi-turbo
I have a thread going also - from the weekend.
What i can't find out is any idea of the routine servicing costs. I know it's not going to be cheap.
Do you have any information?
My local independent seems to imply that servicing costs are not too high.
One MB Independent quoted me £95 & £195 for minor/major servicing, although i suspect that the parts will add a great deal
I've asked about any known realiability issues, and no-one has flagged up anything serious.
Sale prices seem to vary enormously. I'm looking for a 2003/4 one - so we're not clashing, but the 500 i assume is a much more "straightforward" car.
I'll be more than happy to exchange notes with you as we go along!
i'd love a 600 BiT, but i think it maybe cheaper to buy and run a helicopter!!
Common sense says 500, but i've never been very sensible
I'm still not clear how big a difference there is between the 600 and the 600biturbo - or whther it's just badging? Any idea? even a MB dealsership isn't entirely clear, but then they probably want to sell me a new one!
Take care, and if i can help - let me know
Steve

 

[renton]

ive got an ml500 and if i drive easy i can get low to mid 30's out of her but around town that does come down to mid 20's and if im heavy with the gas then we are talking about 15 mpg

Mid 30s?!

Can't get anywhere near that with my ML55! That said, I wouldn't have bought it if I was that bothered about the fuel consumption!
Best I have seen on the gauge is 21mpg on a run, round town average is about 17!

Apologies if this isn't too relevant to the OP's CL500 question